Holiday in May // Baseball in June

Hi folks! It's been a while since you heard from me, so I'm doing a combination post to *hopefully* make up for it.

A not-so-veiled reference to "If you build it, they will come," one of the weirdest and yet best lines ever filmed.

Far From the Madding Crowd

I saw Far From the Madding Crowd twice, both times in theaters. That's something you hear people say about the Titanic. Except this is a period drama based on a Thomas Harding novel, set fifty years before the Titanic, and the heroine -- Bathsheba Everdene -- is an orphan with too much education and no prospects. That is, until she inherits a farm from a late uncle, and sets about making the most of it.

Played to perfection by Carey Mulligan, Bathsheba is the kind of female protagonist that other female protagonists dream of being. She can rear a lamb and wear nice frocks and stand up for her farm to businessmen who would rather it remain a man's world. She is a self-made woman in the strict sense of the term, turning down a marriage proposal in the first twenty minutes of the film because she doesn't know if she wants a husband.

But don't let that confuse you -- Far From the Madding Crowd is a very, very romantic movie.

SEE THE TENSION, FEEL THE TENSION

Gabriel Oak is the man who asks Bathsheba to marry him. His presence and advice shape Bathsheba's path, and he is the constant in an ever-changing stream of suitors. Their dynamic -- where neither is more powerful than the other, and yet they succeed in pushing each other onward -- holds up the plot when it trips and twists. Without her there would be no film; without him it would be a lesser one. (The cinematography is also gorgeous.)

Far From the Madding Crowd is a must-see. You can probably still catch it in theaters.



Hollidaysburg

Hollidaysburg is the first movie I've seen where the way people use their phones is portrayed accurately. The letters people text show up onscreen as they are texting them, giving what would otherwise be dead space 'air time' and a purpose.

Is this a tiny detail? Yes. Does it matter? YES>. 

In an otherwise quiet film, these texts are the glue. They betray relationships, give up secrets, allow characters to convey emotions and annoyances without verbalizing a word. True, texting is a fallible method of communication, but it's at its best when conveying humor, and for a post-teen-drama-comedy like Hollidaysburg it does the job serviceably.

The movie also has the benefits of being very charming and funny. Go-to underrated pick for 2014.


That's it! Night guys.

Seriously, go to sleep.